Most Canadians require some financial assistance when purchasing a home, a car or some other major expense. In most cases, Canadians will rely on personal loans or mortgages to help them finance these major expenses.
But what if you want to get rid of your loan earlier as a result of a significant improvement in your income? Or what if want to refinance your loan because you’ve been able to find a loan from a different lender at much better terms and a lower interest rate?
More specifically, what if you were able to find someone willing to take over your loan? Would you be able to transfer it to that person? The answer to this question depends on the exact type of loan you are thinking of transferring. Let’s take a look at a few.
Can You Transfer Your Mortgage To Another Person?
If you bought a home with a 5-year mortgage, but after 4 years you decide you want to sell it, you’ll have three main options:
- Break The Contract. You can sell your home by breaking your mortgage contract early. But you’ll likely have to pay a hefty penalty fee for it.
- Port Your Mortgage – You can transfer your mortgage to your new property. This is often a good choice for those who are buying a new home while selling their old home.
- Transfer Your Mortgage. You can transfer your mortgage to the buyer. However, for this to work, your buyer must agree to this agreement. This is ideal since the new owner won’t have to take out a mortgage, which often has a higher rate.
How To Transfer Your Mortgage To Another Person?
Before you transfer the mortgage, the contract must stipulate that it can be assumed by someone other than yourself. An “assumable”mortgage means that you can transfer the outstanding balance to another individual.
In addition, the new owner will still need to get approved for a mortgage, which means the lender will still want to look into the buyer’s credit score, financial history, and income to make sure they’ll be able to make the mortgage payments and be at low risk for default.
Alternatives To Transfering Your Mortgage
If your mortgage is not eligible for transfer from one person to another, you may want to consider refinancing if you’re set on getting rid of it. Refinancing will allow you to take out a new loan in order to pay off your existing home loan and is often done when a lower interest rate can be obtained.
Can You Transfer Your Personal Loan To Another Person?
Since personal loans are based on your financial health and credit score, they can’t be transferred to someone else. Your lender initially extended the loan to you after assessing your specific financial situation. If the personal loan was transferred to another person, the lender could likely be at risk. That is if the person that the loan is being transferred to has a poor credit score or financial history.
The only way that you would be able to get rid of a personal loan is to fully repay it.
Can You Transfer Your Car Loan To Another Person in Canada?
If you want to transfer your car loan to another person in Canada, you have a couple of options to choose from.
- Switch Lenders. One way to transfer your car loan to another person in Canada is to switch lenders who will then extend the credit needed to pay off the rest of the loan balance and a completely new loan would be issued to the other individual. You will likely incur some penalty charges if you take this route and your credit score may even suffer as a result.
- Ask Your Lende. Another way to transfer your car loan to another person in Canada that doesn’t require changing lenders is to inform your current lender that someone else will be paying off the remainder of the loan. In this case, the other person would have to undergo the typical financial assessments before they are approved to take over. This tactic will probably cost you less in penalty fees.
- Sell Your Vehicle. While this option doesn’t transfer the car loan, it is a good way to get rid of the car loan. If your car value is more or equal to what you owe on the car, you can sell it privately and then use the money to pay off the loan.
See How Much You Qualify For
Can You Transfer Your Student Loans To Another Person?
Sometimes parents may want to take over their children’s student loans in order to relieve some of their debt and get it off their credit report. It may be possible to have the student loan transferred, but only if the lender agrees to this arrangement.
Moreover, many lenders will likely not have much incentive to transfer the student loan because these types of loans are typically not dischargeable. If the loan was transferred, the lender could potentially be at an increased risk if the person that the loan is being transferred to defaults on the loan at any point.
How To Transfer Your Student Loans To Another Person?
Generally speaking, student loans usually aren’t put in someone else’s name aside from refinancing them into a new loan. In order to have the loan placed in someone else’s name, you would have to refinance it to another loan. If the new loan in the new person’s name is used to pay off the old loan, it will change the borrower and the terms of the loan.
Additional Reading
Transferring A Loan FAQs
Can I transfer my loan to someone with bad credit?
Will transferring my car loan to another person hurt my credit score?
Can I transfer a personal loan to another person?
Final Thoughts
Loans exist for a reason. To help consumers make large financial purchases that their existing finances might not be able to cover. That being said, you may no longer want or even require your loan at some point in the future. In this case, you will have to look into whether or not your specific type of loan can be transferred to someone else.
What you need to do is speak with an experienced loan specialist or financial advisor. They will be able to inform you whether or not your loan can be transferred. And if so, guide you through the transfer process so that you come out on the other side with minimal penalties incurred.
